Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-11-26

their table literally groaned under Its
burden of national delicacies; yet | grew
thin and thinner, and actually retired
every night so downright hungry that |
could have wept, if tears would have
brought some good fairy with slice of
Yankee bread and butter! Just fancy it
-four months without butter, tea, steak,
potatoes, pie, cake, in short without any
thing to which one had been accustomed,
yet compelled to suffer the tortures of
Tantalus by being seated four times a day.
an hour at stretch, beside tables loaded
with dishes one turned from in disgust
Suspecting the cause of my rapid loss of
flesh, sympathetic German friend, who
resided near the border, sent me huge
round loaf of jelly cake, large as milk
pan and delicious enough to gladden. the
eyes of any home-sick Yankee. 1t ar
rived in the forenoon, and of course / car
ried it. uncut, to my hostess, with re-
quest to put it upon the table. But what
was my surprise on being called to dinner
to find that the usual menu had been set
aside in my honor and the festive board
bore not single article except the big
cake, cut in enormous slices Well, we
ate and ate of it-there being nothing else
TO eat-and an hour or two later there
were three sick children whereupon the
lady of the house, with her hand upon
her diaphragm, remarked that she thought
the
AMERICAN PAN DULCE"
(Sweetened bread) not so wholesome as
Mexican food In this family it was the
custom at dinner to put ripe grapes into
the soup, or to slice peaches into it, or any
other fresh fruit that happened to be on
hand and every one of them poured mo-
lasses or curdled milk over the friioles
which had been fried in grease and mixed
with onions and cheese With them a
favorite delicacy was young kid, especially
the brains and head. Whenever cabesa de
cadrita kids head was dinner-dish there
was great rejoicing among the youngsters
and an expression of deep-seated satisfac-
ton upon the faces of the elders. The lit
tie white face of the cab tia, with its half
shut eyes, looked exactly like that of
dead baby. The mistress of the manse
would arise and thrust her knife lust back
OF the forehead, scooping out the brains
and spreading them upon hot tortillas for
the clamorous children. Perhaps Won can
fancy the effect upon my appetite, as the
little one devoured the morceau like greedy
young cannibals, the brains oozing from
the warm tortillas and streaming down the
corners of their mouths
One day the lady of the house, who by
the way, was a lovely woman, a devout
Christian, a tender mother and devoted to
her husband and home, accomplished,
wlthal, for Mexican woman, came to my
room with the astonishing information
that she was going into the kitchen to
make some dutce in honor of her eldest
| sons saints day." and wouldn't / come
out In course of an hour and witness her
IN the act? Certainly would, and gladly
too, for when a Mexican lady condescends
to put her dainty feet and unaccustomed
hands into the servants domain, it is an
household event by no means to be ever
looked
So | wrote dozen pages to give her
time to get well under way. and then re-
paired to the kitchen-which was situated
on the other side of the great casa, beyond
the sunny courtyard with its flowers and
fountains, It's banana and orange trees. at
least an eighth of mile from my apart
ment, though inclosed within the same
adobe wall Their she sat,
FLAT UPON THE FLOOR
In the middle of the kitchen there be-
ing, as usual, no chairs, her round arms
barred above the elbows, and her pudgy
little hands immersed in some sticky COM
pound while no less than five servants
ran hither and thither to do her bidding
bringing little more sugar, flour or water
stirring the Goals in the brasier beside her.
greasing tins upon which to drop the dulce
when cooked, etc. Her beautiful dark
eyes glowed with the excitement of the
occasion, and her husband and brother-in-
law-both men of middle age, one cele-
brated physician, the other dignifed
Judge-stood watching her with admiring
pride depicted upon every line of their
swarthy countenances. Presently the chill
ddren joined the group, several neighbors
dropped in to add their plaudits, and even
the innumerable domestic pets-dogs, cats,
pigs and parrots-seemed to feel that
something remarkable was in progress and
shared the general excitement.
The dulce turned out to be a sort of
candy, made Of white sugar and -four re-
sembling caramels when finished feeble
imitation of those which may be bought
anywhere in the United States for 15c per
pound. That night the exhausted but tri-
umphant lady retired to rest in the happy
consciousness OF great achievement-and
for the next week we had caramels for
breakfast, dinner, supper and "between
meals FANNIE b. WARD.